Dr. Tomasz Nowakowski is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where his laboratory investigates the developmental mechanisms that build the human brain and their relevance to neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly autism. He earned his BSc, MSc, and PhD at the University of Edinburgh before completing postdoctoral training at UCSF, where he joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2017.

Dr. Nowakowski's research combines single-cell and spatial genomics, epigenomics, and brain organoid systems to map the cellular and molecular landscape of human cortical and thalamic development. His group identified molecularly distinct human outer radial glia populations, uncovered species-specific patterns of neurogenesis, and, most recently, described a previously unrecognized neural stem cell population that generates glutamatergic neurons late in human brain development. He directs the CIRM Center for Stem Cell Proteomics and plays leadership roles in several major collaborative consortia, including the Brain Initiative Cell Atlas Network  and SSPsyGene.

His contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the 2024 Vilcek Foundation Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Sciences, designation as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, the Joseph Altman Award in Developmental Neuroscience, and the New York Stem Cell Foundation Robertson Neuroscience Investigator Award. He has published extensively in journals including Nature, Science, and Cell Stem Cell, and mentors a research group of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, several of whom have gone on to independent faculty and biotech research positions.